Yemen’s Houthis claimed Saudi Arabia struck an oil facility in Sanaa on Tuesday, after the Riyadh-led coalition told civilians to leave the surrounding area in its first evacuation order for the Yemeni capital since the war flared up again.
After a series of strikes on the kingdom’s airports and energy sites, the coalition’s spokesman said people should leave an oil facility belonging to the Yemen Petroleum Company on the western outskirts of Sanaa before it was attacked.
An AFP correspondent in Sanaa reported hearing an explosion, while a breaking news alert on the Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV channel said, “Saudi aggression targets the oil company in Al-Sabaha, west of Sanaa”.
The Saudi-led coalition had not yet confirmed the reported strike.
Swiftly responding to the earlier coalition warning, the Houthis had issued a threat to target Riyadh’s international airport, a refinery, and an Aramco facility in Dammam if the strike went ahead.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces urge all citizens to immediately evacuate and move away from targets that our forces will strike should the Saudi enemy target,” military spokesman Yahya Saree wrote on X, identifying the three targets.
An attack at Riyadh’s airport on Saturday left 13 people dead and operations suspended, rocking the world’s top crude oil exporter and deepening the war in Yemen, where the kingdom backs the internationally recognised government.
An AFP correspondent reported that many civilians in Sanaa, fearing shortages, rushed to queue in front of fuel stations after the coalition warning.
The Yemen Petroleum Company sought to reassure the public, saying it had taken all necessary precautions in the event of an emergency to “meet people’s needs”.
Petroleum stocks were “available in safe facilities and locations, and in sufficient quantities” to meet demand for long periods, it said.
Saudi Arabia was still weathering fresh attacks on Tuesday, with the coalition saying its forces intercepted three drones north of the kingdom’s capital Riyadh.
Many countries have issued travel warnings to their citizens in Saudi Arabia, most recently France, which told its citizens to avoid the airports in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam on Tuesday.
The Saudi coalition has supported Yemen’s government militarily against the Houthis since 2015 in a long-running civil war that has created a humanitarian crisis.
Economic woes
Traffic in perennially gridlocked Riyadh was noticeably lighter this week, as remote learning for all schools and work-from-home orders for some companies took effect, according to AFP journalists.
Saudi Arabia faces a major economic contraction this year, with GDP expected to shrink 3.3 per cent, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday, predicting a regional drop over Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The kingdom was already facing headwinds from Tehran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, vital for oil and gas trade, since the start of the Middle East war in February, when the US and Israel attacked Iran.
But the restart in July of Yemen’s frozen war has further roiled the kingdom and brought the fight to its own soil. Houthi attacks have also targeted oil tankers in the Red Sea — Saudi Arabia’s alternative export route.
In Yemen, the renewed fighting was fuelling the risk of infectious disease outbreaks. Suspected cholera cases tripled there in three weeks, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday, warning that the growing disease burden was straining hospitals already treating war casualties.
Houthi warning
Blasts were heard over the Saudi capital again late on Monday, with the Saudi coalition saying it intercepted a Houthi missile and the group announcing it had again targeted the airport.
On Monday evening, Human Resources Minister Ahmad bin Sulaiman Al Rajhi remained defiant.
“We’re not going out,” he told the crowd at the Riyadh Economic Forum. “We are safe. With God’s will. May God turn their plots back against them.”
The Riyadh airport attack prompted US President Donald Trump to say he was considering joining Saudi strikes against the Houthis, after having reportedly rebuffed previous Saudi requests.
The Houthis warned the US against intervention, with political bureau member Mohammed Al Bukhaiti telling AFP they would target American interests in the region.
Bukhaiti said the purpose of the campaign against Saudi targets was to send a message to the crown prince “that he can no longer wage aggression against Yemen from a safe position”.